As a yoga teacher and studio owner do you ever resent having to teach or spend time with your students? Are you struggling with customer service, approaching it as a distraction?
If so, your values may have skewed somewhere along the way. In order to get back on track, ask these two questions frequently:
1. How can I help my yoga students? And
2. Will those helping activities in some way add value to my business?
Asking these questions will focus your activities to building a great yoga studio.
The first question is by far the most important. The second question is to ensure that the answers to the first questions don’t bankrupt you. After all, you can help your students any number of ways, but as a yoga studio business owner you need to generally restrict your activities to those that will in some way add value to your business.
For example, you may have students who need financial assistance. You could help by loaning them money. The fact is you aren’t in the lending business, and so lending money isn’t a value-adding activity to your yoga studio. That said, if you loan students money as a personal decision that is different. The point of this article is to ensure you focus your yoga business activities to put you in the right mindset to both offer a beneficial service and build a business as a result.
Another example is perhaps you have a yoga student who struggles with a particular pose. You could help by spending a few minutes after class with them privately, assisting them with the pose … for no charge. This type of assistance helps your student. Your student will be very pleased. This type of remarkable client service is also a value-adding activity to your yoga studio business because you are helping your student in a way that delivers the very benefit you offer.
Activities that deliver the benefit(s) you offer add value. The benefit(s) you offer are the reason students attend your yoga classes.
The key to asking “how can I help?” is to do so with an absolutely genuine mindset of wanting to help. If all you think about is building a yoga studio business and the bottom line, you’ll probably find many of your activities a distraction and hassle. If, however, you intend and sincerely seek to help your students enhance their yoga practice, then you’ll engage in many of your activities that do help your students with joy and cheerfulness.
If your primary value in running your yoga business is making money (or anything other than helping your students), then you’ll view all activities other than money making as a distraction. You’ll start viewing teaching, class preparation, and spending time with your students as a distraction. If this happens, your yoga studio will suffer.
If you are finding yourself resentful of serving your yoga students, then your values may be skewed. You may have lost proper perspective. Ask youself “am I in this business to help yoga students’ yoga practice?”
Align your values with the core benefit(s) you’re delivering and your business will take care of itself. Don’t forget your roots by asking “how can I help?” and “will that help in some way add value to my business?”
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